HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College softball team (17-20-1, 5-10-1 CC) dropped both contests of its doubleheader with the visiting Ursinus Bears (26-11, 11-2 CC) on Tuesday afternoon at Class of '95 Field. The Fords struggled to find offensive consistency in game one, losing by a score of 8-0 before being narrowly edged in game two by a score of 2-1.
Nikki Kingsland was the only Ford to register a hit in both contests, while Mia Kessinger hit a home run late in game two to give the hosts a chance to come back. In total, the Fords recorded just seven hits between the two games, largely due to the pitching from Christa Andrusiewicz and Stephanie Wichman of Ursinus.
Ursinus 8, Haverford 0
Game one started with three scoreless innings on both sides. Rachel McQueen started in the circle and put in a good shift for the majority of the contest. McQueen pitched six innings, recording two strikeouts and walking three in another solid start.
Things started to unravel just a bit for McQueen in the top of the fourth as Ursinus was able to put three runs on the board. Despite the slight hiccup, McQueen continued to pitch well and held the Bears scoreless in the fifth and sixth inning.
The visitors finally broke the game open with a string of hits in the seventh inning, starting with a home run from Kayla Carr. Susie Pieper was summoned to relieve McQueen, but Ursinus was unfazed. The visitors quickly added four more runs to make the score 8-0.
All that was left for Ursinus to do was get through the bottom of the seventh and the Bears were able to do just that as Andrusiewicz worked around a one-out single by Kingsland.
Ursinus 2, Haverford 1
The solid pitching continued for Ursinus in game two with Wichman in the circle. The Fords struggled to get any solid contact against the Ursinus hurler. The first hit for Haverford came in the bottom of the third, as Maddie Etheridge drilled a single but was stranded on the basepaths.
Dueling with Wichman was Haverford's Alexa Finkele, who did everything she could to keep the Fords in the game. Finkele eventually finished the day pitching all seven innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out one. Finkele held the Bears scoreless in the first three innings, giving up the first run in the fourth inning.
Ursinus added another run in the top of the sixth to make the score 2-0, with the Fords looking for something to go their way. Finkele's pitching was finally rewarded in the bottom of the seventh as Kessinger hit a home run to lead off the inning.
It was just the start of the inning that Haverford needed, but they were looking for more. They'd get a chance to add more runs after Kingsland doubled to left center field with only one out. However, a popup and foul out brought an end to any walk-off attempt.
The Fords finish the regular season 17-20-1 overall, scoring 227 runs and recording 333 hits. Abby Marquis was a definite highlight of the season finishing the year in a tie for first on the all-time list for single-season home runs (9).
Agonizingly, she sits at 99 hits for her career, just one hit short of the century mark. Marquis led a group of talented and young individuals the likes of Jocelyn Leal, Addie Sapirstein, and Abby Litchfield have bright futures ahead of them.